King Lear
From: Friday, 3rd December 2010
To: Saturday, 5 February 2011
Our Review: 
Your Reviews:
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Synopsis
King Lear divides his Kingdom between his daughters according to a declaration of their love for him. His eldest Goneril and Regan exaggerate their affection and inherit. His youngest daughter Cordelia speaks only the truth and is banished. So begins the tragedy of King Lear, whose dignity, sanity and finally life are torn from him by a self-seeking younger generation, ambitious for his power. What is love, what is madness, what is truth - Shakespeare explores these questions together with many others in King Lear, widely considered to be his greatest tragedy.
Our Review:
8 December 2010
The compact Donmar stage might seem constricting for an epic tragedy such as this but Michael Grandage’s production gets straight to the heart of the fragility of familial relationships.
The opening scene is played almost as parlour game as Derek Jacobi's king, asks his daughters for their proclamations of love almost as an afterthought and laughing at her answer of nothing. Kent's lays out a giggle too, as if it's a moment of levity. How quickly the mood changes: Jacobi's Lear is a man of camp, capriciousness whose mood shifts from sunny levity to a darker disposition. The “blow winds and crack your cheeks” speech is delivered in a hushed monotone, eyes firmly closed as if it were an incantation.
The production is blessed with strong performances from Gina McKee and Justine Mitchell as Goneril and Regan. McKee particularly is a smouldering presence, eyeing Alec Newman's Edmund from the opening scene right: this is a compelling mixture of s...
Latest User Review
Claire Wilson - 20 March 2011:
Saw this at Milton Keynes last night. It was my third Lear. Thought Derek Jacobi's towering Lear was superb and Gradage's direction great but, alas, am at a bit of a loss as to know how critics could think the rest of the cast were also superb. I thought Paul Jesson's Gloucester was very weak and didn't compare in any way shape or form to David Bradley's brilliant portrayal of the same role in the 1993/94 RSC production. I was also was immensely disappointed in Gina McKee's performance as Goneril. She seemed to be playing "Shakespeare by numbers." At times I even found it hard to hear what she was saying. Alec Newman as Edmund could also do with working on the old adage that sometimes, less, is more.... Glad I got to see the masterful Jacobi in what must be the greatest of Shakespearean roles. Was just so sorry to have left the theatre feeling distinctly underwhelmed. Maybe the production just didn't transfer well from the intimacy of the Donmar to a larger theatre. ...
Creative
Shakespeare (Author)
Donmar Warehouse (Producer)
Michael Grandage (Director)
Christopher Oram (Design)
Neil Austin (Lighting)
Adam Cork (Music)
Adam Cork (Sound)
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